We Are Swindon: Positive Swindon

It’s so fabulous to meet another Swindon enthusiast. Which is why, the other week, I enjoyed having a good chat with Michelle Jones – the power behind the Positive Swindon social media campaign, over coffee in DaPaolo’s on Commercial Road.

What I’ve done with content via this blog, Michelle has done via her social media campaign. And that is to bang the Swindon drum and shout about the town’s many positive attributes and outright beauty.

Michelle Jones - We are Swindon in front of the bandstand in Swindon's Town Gardens. — ©Calyx Picture Agency Michelle Jones who has run Positive Swindon twitter account for last three years Michelle runs this twitter account Positive Swindon for people to share photos and positive things about Swindon. She gets a lot of photos sent in from Coate Water and places at the Lawns.

How it began

Four years ago, in 2015, Michelle wanted to do something to help local people to speak in positive terms about Swindon. She also wanted to encourage more pride within the town.

At the time Michelle had two young daughters and she didn’t want them to feel embarrassed about the town of their birth. She also felt the need to reduce the amount of negative press the town received.

From living in Portsmouth and London for a few years, Michelle realised that most of the negativity aimed at Swindon came from some Swindonians. But then working on Swindon economic development marketing campaigns showed Michelle the opposite side of the coin. People that want to combat the negative perceptions by being positive about the town.

The We Are Swindon Instagram account was born and the hashtag #we_are_swindon became tagged on more and more positive photos – over 5,000 times now. By sharing local people’s own positive photographs of Swindon, Michelle has been able to share over 1,000 photos.

Michelle said “I remember when I first started the campaign on Instagram and got stuck on 17 followers. In the main my friends. I felt so frustrated and almost gave up.

In the end though, my determination and belief in Swindon kept me going. I’d like to thank all the 2,415 followers we now have. The campaign would be nothing without them and I’m so proud that it’s giving people with positive things to say and photography to share a platform”.